The present invention relates generally to a disposal or shredder apparatus for paper and other information carrying media for the disposal of documents containing sensitive information, and, more particularly, relates to a shredder device for shredding documents in a manner which minimizes or prevents the recovery and reconstruction of information from the shredded documents.
It is well known to provide an apparatus to destroy documents to preserve the confidentiality of the information contained in the documents. Present day devices for shredding or otherwise destroying documents for security purposes are known as xe2x80x9cpaper shreddersxe2x80x9d or just simply, xe2x80x9cshredders.xe2x80x9d
Shredders are widely used for the disposal of documents containing sensitive information. Conventional shredders attempt to ensure the security of information by cutting or tearing documents into narrow strips or small segments to thus render the information contained in the documents illegible. While recovery and reconstruction of information from such shredded documents is difficult and time-consuming, by employing various forms of presently available technological and manual techniques, it can be accomplished.
For the more common types of shredders in use today, reconstruction of information is not overly difficult because the strips of shredded documents fall into a waste receptacle in roughly the same sequence and proximity as they were prior to being shredded. Further, the strips of a particular shredded document may also be cut at a preferred angle or slant resulting from feeding the document to the shredder at an angle. Of course, the finer the shredding, i.e., the smaller the resulting segments of shredded document are, the more difficult it is to reconstruct the information contained in the document. Additionally, and the most helpful in the reconstruction process, most, if not all, shredders in use today create cuts which traverse a portion of a character or other image on the document. It is then a relatively simple matter to connect or match one portion of an image on one strip or segment of the document to a corresponding portion of the image appearing on another strip or segment of the document. For example, the top portion of the letter xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d to the bottom portion of that same letter.
It is clear that most document shredders in use today do not provide adequate destruction of documents to prevent reconstruction of the information contained in the shredded documents in the face of a determined effort. What is needed then is a document shredder device which intelligently shreds or otherwise destroys documents in such a manner that no information can be reconstructed from the shredded document material.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a method for shredding a document which cuts each page of the document into segments formed by cuts made in the blank space between characters or images on the page. Since the document segments do not have any partial images or characters at the edges, corresponding or adjacent segments cannot be matched thus preventing or, at least, greatly increasing the difficulty of reconstructing information from the shredded document material. A document shredder embodying the present invention is simple to use and provides secure disposal of proprietary and sensitive material.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is implemented as a method for shredding a document including analyzing the text or image printed on each page of the document to determine a desired cut pattern for shredding the document into segments. Preferably, the desired cut pattern positions all cuts in the blank space separating characters or groups of characters on the document page. That is, all cuts occur within blank space on the document page. The cutting position of one or more cutting devices is adjusted such that all cuts on the document page are made in accordance with the desired cut pattern. Each document page is then shred or cut into segments in accordance with the desired cut pattern.
In another preferred embodiment, a document shredder implementing the present invention includes a document reader to provide an image of the information contained on the pages of the document. Preferably the document reader is a scanner which provides a digital image of the document. A processor coupled to the document reader analyzes the image corresponding to each page to determine the desired cut pattern for that page. Preferably, the desired cut pattern thus determined will allow cuts only in the blank spaces on the page between characters or groups of characters in the text. In another preferred embodiment, the desired cut pattern may allow one cut per document segment to traverse or cut across a character or portion of a character. Instructions generated by the processor are coupled to adjustable cutting components to adjust the size and position of cuts in the document to shred the document into segments in accordance with the desired cut pattern.
Other embodiments and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The claims alone, not the preceding summary or the following detailed description, define the invention.